Dining Tidbits
For April 2008: Park 52, Schwa, Haussmann Brasserie, Curio Cafe
Ad Categories: Dining & Drinking
Dining Out: Olive Branches
One’s Greek, one’s Turkish, and never the twain shall meet. But two smart neighborhood spots bring out the glory of their hallowed Mediterranean ground.
Get Twisted
We’re Not Gonna Bake It
Our favorite new bakery these days is Twisted Sister Bakery (1543 N. Wells St.; 312-932-1128), which opened three weeks ago in Old Town. “I’ve collected and tweaked hundreds of recipes over the past 30 years,” says Lisa Alexander, a partner. “They are all the things that I love.” She loved them so much that when her husband persuaded her to quit her job as a nurse manager at Illinois Masonic and open a bakery, she did just that, teaming up with her best friend, Doug Lee (who didn’t quit his day job as a gastroenterologist). We loved the chocolate…
Eels, Pugs, and Other Lounge Lizard News
Just because I’ll be stuck on the couch nursing an injured knee instead of a cocktail tomorrow on my birthday doesn’t mean you can’t raise a toast on April 15th. Yes, the Tax Man taketh away, but you can drinketh whatever’s left. Read about new bar openings and tax day specials below; then, if you make it out to these or other spots, come back and post comments so that others (ahem, me) can benefit vicariously from your bar hopping…
Up to the Plate
You may know that The Closer, when he’s not Closing, reviews restaurants. People constantly ask him, “Man, how do I do that?” His answer: Eat like a maniac, and write like you mean it. Oh, and make sure you’re in the right place at the right time.
Any Minute Now
A look at Mercat a la Planxa, at the newly remodeled Blackstone Hotel
On the Road
A West Coast quest to find himself led Whiskey Road’s Matt Miller back to Bucktown
Last Girl Standing Takes a Seat (Temporarily)
LGS will be on the nightlife disabled list for the next few weeks with a
torn ACL. She’ll be scaling back on posting during her recovery, but keep
those comments coming, and check in for bar news and wedding updates. (What
better way to spend doctor-enforced couch time than planning her biggest
party yet?)
For Whom the Bell Tolls
My very first beer was a Heineken from a vending machine in a cheap Amsterdam hostel. At the time, I thought the bitter, swill-like flavor was exacerbated by the sweetness of some dried pineapple I was eating alongside it. Turns out that’s just Heineken. But a few weeks later, I had my first sips of something truly inspiring, Brasserie Fischer’s Adelscott, a complex lager brewed with a secret weapon: peat-smoked malt whiskey. Now that was a beer.
That’s not to say I know much about beer—but I’m learning, and I’ll be chronicling it here, in a new weekly Web feature called Get to the Pint…
The Coolest Spot Ever
Re-Engaged
Dirk Flanigan and Billy Lawless, the men behind The Gage (24 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-372-4243), have secured the 2,000-square-foot space next door, and are moving forward with a new concept. “We are still working on what we want to do,” Flanigan says, “but I can tell you that it’s going to be one of the coolest spots in Chicago—if not the coolest spot on Michigan Avenue. It’s going to be really, really cool…